Will West Berkshire return to Tier 1?

Cllr Lynne Doherty, leader of West Berkshire Council, said: “Our numbers would suggest we will go back to Tier 1.

“But we do not yet know if tiers will be done by local authority or county. I believe this is subject of much discussion and I have fed in my views.”

England will return to the three-tier system on Wednesday, December 2, and the government will announce which restrictions will be imposed on each area of the country on Thursday, November 26.

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When making those decisions, it considers how many cases are in each area, whether the number of cases is rising or falling, hospital capacity, infection rates and the percentage of tests that are positive.

There is cause for cautious optimism in West Berkshire.

West Berkshire’s seven-day infection rate stands at 99.1 cases per 100,000 – after another 157 cases – but that is the lowest infection rate in Berkshire.

Two weeks ago, the district’s seven-day rate peaked at 128.1 cases per 100,000, but it has been falling steadily since then.

Matt Pearce, West Berkshire Council’s head of Public Health, said: “West Berkshire is faring relatively well, but we’ll have to wait to see what that trend looks like over the coming weeks, to see if that is a sustained downward trend.”

Local hospitals have not seen a sharp increase in coronavirus admissions or positive tests over the last two months and staff are coping well with the current demand.

Dom Hardy, chief operating officer at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, has said the increase “has been nothing like the extremely rapid peak that we saw from very late March into the first two weeks of April”.

The latest figures show that 6 per cent of tests conducted in West Berkshire are coming back positive and Public Health England considers a positivity rate of 7.5 per cent or higher to be a cause for concern.

And during the pandemic, 137 people have died in the district after contracting the virus, but none of those deaths were recorded within the last week.

However, West Berkshire could end up in a higher tier if county-wide restrictions are imposed.

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The area of particular concern in Berkshire is Slough, which has a seven-day infection rate of 345.7 cases per 100,000, after 517 new cases.

Earlier this week, Slough Borough Council said: “Our numbers are such currently that we are potentially a Tier 3 authority but we can only say potentially because we won’t know until Thursday”.

In Tier 1 areas, people will be able to meet indoors and outdoors in groups of up to six, and pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be allowed to stay open until 11pm.

Fans will be able to attend sports matches and live performances, but numbers will be restricted.

In Tier 2, people from separate households will only be allowed to meet outdoors in groups of up to six and pubs and restaurants will remain open until 11pm, but alcohol will only be served with a substantial meal.

In Tier 3, people will be banned from mixing at indoor or outdoor venues, pubs and restaurants will close (can provide takeaways) and people will be advised against travelling in and out of the area.